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our master!" He said to them, "May it be the will of God that the fear of Heaven may be impressed upon you like the fear of flesh and blood!" His disciples said to him, "Is that all?" He said to them, "And would that it were even so!" (that is, that you had always such fear before you!), "for when a man is about to commit a sin, he is wont to say, If only no man would see me!" Shortly before his death, Ben Zakkai exclaimed, "Keep the vessels from uncleanness " (i.e., take them out of the house, since all the vessels are unclean which are in a house where a death occurs), "and place a chair for Hezekiah, king of Judah, for he is coming" (Berachoth, 28 b). That is, in accordance with a prevalent belief that dying saints were visited by the spirits of the departed, Ben Zakkai's last thoughts were that Hezekiah, the pious king of Judah, was approaching to conduct him to the judgment seat of the Eternal. It is not for us to moralize over this death-bed scene in the manner Lightfoot has done with more than questionable taste, exclaiming, "Ah! miseram ac languentem Pharisæi in morte fiduciam."

The five disciples of Ben Zakkai survived their master. Of the eldest of them, Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, Ben Zakkai once said, "If all the wise men of Israel were placed in one scale of the balance, and Eliezer ben Hyrkanus in the other, he would outweigh them all" (Aboth ii. 8 b). Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, some years after Ben Zakkai's death, was, however, placed under the ban, because of his determined opposition to the opinion of the majority of the learned men. But it is noteworthy that, notwithstanding this fact, as Jost (Geschichte der Juden) remarks, the Mishnah has preserved more of his sayings than of those of his contemporaries. An interesting collection of these on a large variety of subjects is to be found in Bacher's valuable treatise. His three sayings (preserved in the treatise " Aboth") show that he wished his disciples to profit by his experience, and to be more ready than he was to submit to the decisions of the majority of the sages. These sayings are : "Let the honor of thy friend be dear unto thee as thine own and be not easily provoked; and repent one day before thy death [that is, repent to-day, for to-morrow thou mayest die]. And warm thyself before the fire of the wise, but beware of their coals, that thou mayest not be burnt; for their bite is like the bite of a fox, and their sting the sting of a scorpion, and their hissing like the hissing of a fiery

serpent, and all their words like coals of fire."

R. Joshua, the second disciple, was deservedly held in good reputation. He was the disciple who, in company with Elazar ben 'Arak, had borne Ben Zakkai in his coffin out of the gate of Jerusalem into the Roman lines. He was a Levite, and belonged to the singers of the Temple. He was, however, compelled to follow the occupation of a smith in order to obtain his daily livelihood. Hence he occupied in some respects a middle position between the upper and the lower classes of Jewish society, and is said to have been the only one of the learned class who had any hold upon the affections of the common people. He was so ugly in person that a Roman princess once asked him the impudent question, "Why is so much wisdom contained in such an unshapely vessel?" She received, however, a pungent reply. "Wine," remarked the rabbi, "is not kept in golden jars, but in earthenware vessels." Like his master, R. Joshua was a man of peace, and did all in his power to calm his countrymen during the rebellion against Roman domination in the days of Trajan. He is said to have had considerable knowledge of astronomy and to have understood some of the laws that regulate the reappearance of comets, and his knowledge of such matters enabled him during a sea voyage to save the crew from destruction. His sayings (preserved in "Aboth ") are: "An evil eye [envy], and the evil nature, and hatred of the creatures [mankind], drive a man out of the world." Compare with the last clause the more profound saying of the apostle, "He that hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John iii. 15).

R. Jose, surnamed by his master "the pious," also said three things: "Let the wealth of thy companion be as precious to thee as thine own; prepare thyself to learn Thorah [the Holy Scriptures], for it is not an inherited possession [that is, its acquisition requires personal toil and effort]; and let all thine actions be done for the name of heaven" for the honor of God, and not for selfish ends. Dr. C. Taylor observes that an Oxford manuscript of "Aboth " here contains a reference to the blessing pronounced on Jael for the murder of Sisera, as a good illustration of the principle that an evil action done from a good motive is better in God's sight than a good action performed from evil motives.

The first of R. Jose's sayings reminds us of our Lord's remark, "If ye have not

been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, | be put to shame, who revile your good who will commit to your trust the true manner of life in Christ." riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?" (Luke xvi. II, 12). His last saying may be paralleled with, "Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. x. 31).

R. Simeon ben Nathanael, the fourth disciple, commended by Ben Zakkai as one who "feared sin," seems to have had something of the character of the Nathan ael commended in the Gospel as "an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile" (John i. 47). Were we to let ourselves be guided by fancy, we might conjecture that the two men were related to each other. R. Simeon's sayings are: "Be careful in reading the Shema' [that is, the "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," Deut. vi. 4, recited morning and evening by every Jew], and in prayer; and when thou prayest make not thy prayer an ordinance, but an entreaty before God, blessed be he! for it is said, 'for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and plenteous in grace, and repenteth of the evil' (Joel ii. 13); and be not wicked unto thyself." The last clause is a quotation from Sirach xiv. 5, and is probably correctly explained by Geiger (ap. Strack), though differently interpreted by Taylor, "be not sinful for thyself" — i.e., when thou art removed from the company and observation of other men, and then revealest thy true character to thyself by heartlessness in prayer, as one who has no love to God. The sayings of the fifth disciple, R. Elazar ben 'Arak, are peculiar: "Be diligent to learn Thorah, that thou mayest know what to answer to Epicurus [a com. mon designation in the Talmud of the free-thinking Jew], and know before whom thou toilest, and who is the Lord of thy work, that he may render to thee the reward of thy doing." A New Testament parallel to this is the warning of St. Peter in his first epistle, addressed to the Jews of the dispersion (ch. iii. 15), "Fear not their fear, neither be troubled; but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord: being ready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may

That is, not like some command attended to only

from compulsion, and gone through without any taste

for it. Shammai used to insist on the reading of the

law at stated times as a fixed ordinance which should never be omitted.

Gamaliel II. was grandson of the renowned Gamaliel. He was carefully trained by his father, Simeon, in all the learning of the Jewish schools. He remained in Jerusalem during the terrible siege of Titus, and was one of the prisoners taken at its capture. His life was spared by the Roman general, at the intercession of Johanan ben Zakkai. Advanced to the presidency of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and recognized by the Roman authorities as the representative of the Jewish nation, Gamaliel strove hard to unite the two great parties which had long divided the Jewish schools, namely, the followers of Hillel and Shammai. He exercised a rigid discrimination in admitting students to the school at Jamnia, and placed at the door a janitor to exclude the unworthy. From the precision in which the scholars were drawn up in regular lines, that school obtained in his day the name of "The Vine Garden." He strove as far as possible to suppress disputations on useless subjects, and made all feel the authority of the patriarchal chair. He introduced the ban or excommunication, in order to silence opposition. The ban or excommunication was, however, in that period comparatively mild in its effects, although the person under such a sentence had to wear mourning, and was restricted in intercourse with his fellows. Gamaliel used this weapon not merely to punish junior offenders, but to strike down his equals. R. Akiba was threatened with this punishment, and it was actually inflicted on the most learned disciple of Ben Zakkai, namely, Eliezer ben Hyrkanus. But the further attempt to exercise discipline upon R. Joshua aroused to a flame the long pent-up indignation against the patriarch. He was accordingly deposed at the synod of Jamnia (A.D. 118), and the presidency bestowed upon the youthful Elazar ben 'Asariah. The synod of Jamnia was remarkable for several other subjects brought under discussion, and especially for having been the Jewish council which finally silenced the objections made in Jewish circles to the retention of the Book of Koheleth and the Song of Songs among the sacred writings.

Elazar ben 'Asariah at once threw open the school at Jamnia, removed the porter, and admitted all who chose to enter freely. The obnoxious rules passed by Gamaliel were repealed. The school was soon filled to overflowing. Gamaliel exhibited under these circumstances remarkable

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self-control, and still continued regularly to attend the disputations. One day an Ammonite proselyte of the house of Judah sought to be admitted to the congregation of Israel. R. Gamaliel opposed his admission, appealing to the prohibition contained in Deut. xxiii. 3, “ An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord." R. Joshua maintained that the proselyte ought to be received. "Are these people still," asked he "in their ancient possessions? Did not Sennacherib carry them away captive to Assyria?" (Isa. x.). "But is it not written," urged R. Gamaliel, “I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon?" (Jer. xlix. 6). They have verily been brought back again," said Gamaliel. R. Joshua maintained that such was not the case. At the close of the debate the assembly divided, and the views advocated by R. Joshua were accepted by the large majority of votes. R. Gamaliel then withdrew his opposition, and the proselyte was admitted into the congregation. R. Gamaliel, after the meeting, visited R. Joshua in his dwelling and sought reconciliation with him. The latter was a nailsmith, and his house was black with the smoke of the furnace. Gamaliel on entering marvelled to see the place in which his renowned adversary lived. "Thy walls," said he in astonishment, "bear testimony to the fact that thou art a blacksmith." "Woe," answered R. Joshua, "to the generation whose leader thou art! thou knowest not the poverty of the learned, or how they support themselves!" " Forgive me," said R. Gamaliel, “I have been unjust to thee." R. Joshua was silent. "Forgive me," urged R. Gamaliel, "out of consideration for the honor of my father." R. Joshua gave him his hand, and the two learned men were reconciled on the spot.* The reconciliation was noised abroad, and created a deep revulsion in favor of Gamaliel. R. Elazar ben 'Asariah generously resigned the patriarchate, and Gamaliel II. was reinstated in the post.

We close this notice of Gamaliel II. with the golden saying of his mentioned in "Aboth," a saying which seems to have been called forth by such experiences: "On three things the world stands: on judgment, and on truth, and on peace." "Justice, truth, and peace," as Dr. Charles Taylor notes, "are collectively the ovvdeoμos of society, a threefold cord which is not quickly broken "(Eccl. iv. 12). Peace

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plays an important part in the New Testament. Thus of Christ it is said, "He is our peace" (Eph. ii. 14); and St. Paul says, "the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (Rom. xvi. 20). Peace, as Taylor observes, is a Talmudic name of God, and the etymological connection in Hebrew between peace and perfectness, "everything is perfected by peace" affords a clue to the source from whence several of the Pauline expressions may have been derived.

R. Elazar ben 'Asariah used to ask: "To what is that man like whose wisdom is greater than his doings [works]? He is like to a tree whose branches are many, but whose roots are few; and the wind comes and uproots it, and overturns it, as it is written, and he shall be as one stripped naked [as the heath, A. V.]in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, and he shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land, and not inhabited '(Jer. xvii. 6). But what is that man like whose doings are greater than his wisdom? Like a tree whose branches are few, and whose roots are many, for though all the winds which are in the world come and light upon it they do not move it from its place, according as it is said, ‘and he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, and her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit,'" (Jer. xvii. 8) (Aboth iii. 27, in Strack's ed., iii. 17).

The striking resemblance of this sentiment to the words of our Lord at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. vii. 24-27) cannot fail to suggest itself to the mind. The details of the parable of our Lord are different, but the teaching of both parables is identical.

The last and most famous of the great Jewish rabbis of the first century who shall be here mentioned is R. Akiba. According to the common story he was of Gentile origin. He entered into the employment of a rich inhabitant of Jerusa lem as a shepherd. While so engaged he cordially hated the learned class, possibly because of the contempt often exhibited by them to persons of his class. He once said, "When I was one of the common people I would say, O that I had here the disciple or a wise man, that I might bite him like an ass "(Pesachim, 49 b). But his hatred to learning was totally altered by his falling in love with Rachel, the daughter of his employer. He was then a widower,

and had one son by a previous wife. He was a man of noble exterior as well as of great mental powers. His love was returned with love. But Rachel refused to give him her hand unless he abandoned his shepherd's staff and became a scholar. Though forty years of age, he accepted the conditions imposed by his beloved, and forthwith enrolled himself as the pupil of the most distinguished Jewish teachers of that day. For twelve years he devoted himself to intense study, though at first he learned slowly and with difficulty. He began his studies some fifteen years previous to the destruction of the Temple by Titus. Though his fellow-students were men of the highest abilities, Akiba excelled them all. He carefully learned the traditions of the fathers, and acquired the skill to discover proofs for these, or allusions to them, in passages of the Sacred Scriptures. When on one occasion he pressed his opponent R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanus hard in argument, R. Joshua, the learned blacksmith, said to Eliezer, "See, these are the people which you despise " (Jer. Pesach. vi. 4).

ence.

In due course Akiba was married; but Rachel's father, Kalba Shebna, opposed the marriage, and it took place privately. Kalba Shebna drove the pair from his house, and disinherited his daughter. The married pair were accordingly reduced to great straits. Their first child was born upon a heap of straw, and Rachel was compelled to cut off her hair and sell it in order to provide the means of subsistR. Akiba consoled her on the occasion with the promise, "When I become rich I will buy for thee a golden Jerusalem." He was obliged to separate himself for several years from her society while carrying on his studies at Jerusalem. When he returned to Bene-Berak, southeast of Joppa, after having completed his studies, in order to found a college of his own, a multitude went out to meet the then distinguished rabbi. Rachel, clad in a miserable attire, went also forth to meet him, and when she saw him sprang forward and clasped his knees. His disciples, not knowing who she was, attempted to thrust her away. But R. Akiba exclaimed, "Let her alone, make room for her; all that I am, and that you are, we have to thank her for " (Nedarim, 50). Her father, proud of the fame of his son-in-law, now bestowed upon her a rich dowry, and left R. Akiba his entire possessions. R. Akiba was not unmindful of the promise he had made in the days of poverty, and bestowed upon his wife a

magnificent robe upon which was embroidered in gold a picture of Jerusalem.*

According to the story, the wife of the Jewish patriarch became envious on account of the splendor of the robe which R. Akiba bestowed upon his wife, and complained that no such present had been bestowed upon her. The patriarch Gamaliel II. reprimanded her for her jealousy, remarking that a wife only deserved such a distinction who had deprived herself of her tresses for the sake of her husband. Possessed of a wife of such sterling qualities, it is no wonder that one of the sayings attributed to R. Akiba should be: "That man is rich who possesses a wife with excellent virtues " (Shabbath, 25). R. Akiba's school in Bene-Berak soon became famous, and many of the distinguished rabbis of a later period were among his pupils. His scholars were wont to compare R. Akiba to a husbandman who goes out to a field to seek for grain. If he finds wheat he gathers that, if barley he takes it also. If he sees spelt he adds it to his stock, or if beans or lentiles he reaps them also. But when he returns, he arranges all in order according to their respective sorts. His rules for teaching were, "A portion daily, a portion daily.""Repeat often the sentence which you wish to impress on the minds of your scholars." "Teach out of a book which is correct, for a blunder once fixed in the memory cannot easily be eradicated."

It is unnecessary here to enter into any details as to his learning. This subject is ably treated in the work of Bacher, who gives numerous instances of his inge nuity. His subtlety enabled him to discover many Biblical arguments in favor of the traditions of the fathers. Those interpretations often cannot bear the light of modern criticism, although similar principles of exegesis have been only too common with popular preachers of all churches, who sometimes take little trouble to ascertain the real meaning of the texts they venture to expound. R. Akiba was said to be able to give a reason for every little stroke and point in the sacred writ ings.

He used to say of sin that "in the beginning it is as weak as the thread of a spider, but in the end as strong as the towing-rope of a ship" (Midrash Bereshith, § xxii., on Gen. iv. 6). This saying of his was founded on Isaiah v. 18. one occasion he taught for a time his stu

See Graetz's Geschichte der Juden, iv. 59 ff. ↑ Aboth Rabbi Nathan, § 18.

On

dents in the morning under the shade of a large fig-tree. When the figs began to get ripe, the owner of the tree was wont to go out very early and gather all the ripe fruit. Fearing that he did so because he suspected their honesty, the rabbi and his pupils removed to another locality. The owner was disappointed when he came and found that they had left the place. He at once sought them and discovered where they had removed. "My lords," said the owner, "you afforded me much pleasure when you held your meetings under my fig-tree, and now you have deprived me of that honor." "We did not mean," replied they, "to deprive you of any pleasure.” "But why did you, then, go away from my tree?" asked the owner. "Because," was the reply, "we thought you suspected us." "I did not suspect you," answered the owner, "and I beg that you will return." They accordingly did so. The next morning the owner came early as usual, but he stood quietly there, and did not gather the figs. When the sun shone upon the tree the ripe fruit became full of worms. The owner then showed the fruit to R. Akiba and his disciples, and said, "You now see why I used to pluck off the fruit so early, not because I suspected your honesty, but because I did not wish the fruit to be destroyed." R. Akiba then remarked to his disciples, "See ye not that the owner of the fig-tree knows exactly when the fruit should be gathered; and even so God knows the time when the righteous ought to be taken away from this world." He then quoted in illustration of the truth the expression in the Song of Songs, vi. 2, "My beloved is gone down to his garden to gather lilies." *

The following sayings of R. Akiba remind us of the words of the Apostle John in the opening verses of his 1 Epist. iii.: "Man is beloved inasmuch as he was created in the image of God; greater love was it that it was made known to him that he was so created." "Israel is beloved because they are called the sons of God; greater love was it that this was made known to them [in the words of the law], as it is said, 'Ye are the sons of the Lord your God'" (Aboth iii. 21, 22; Strack, iii. 14).

More important are his sayings, in the same treatise, on the question of predestination and foreknowledge: "Everything is foreseen; and freewill is given. The

This anecdote is related in the "Midrash Bereshith," xlii., on Gen. xxv. 8, and also in the "Midrash Koheleth" in ch. v. 11, and in other places.

world is judged by grace, and everything is according to work." R. Akiba here affirms that the supposed opposites, predestination and freewill, mercy and justice, are reconcilable with each other. The profound saying of a later rabbi may also be quoted as setting forth the prevalent opinion among the Pharisees on this question: "Everything is in the power of Heaven except the disposition of a man towards Heaven." What a flood of light does the doctrine of the Pharisee shed on that of the great apostle of the Gentiles, who was "a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee," in the Epistle to the Romans. It is the old teaching of the Book of Koheleth, namely, that man's circumstances and surroundings are foreseen and predestined, but that man himself is free to choose whether he will hear, or refuse to hear, the voice of God.

The last saying of R. Akiba that we shall here quote is: "Everything is given [to man] on pledge, and the net [of death; compare Eccl. ix. 12, Isa. xxv. 7] is cast over all the living. The office is open; the broker [the Lord of the world] gives credit; and the ledger is open; and the hand writes; and whosoever will borrow, comes and borrows; and the bailiffs [the angels] go round continually every day, and exact from a man whether he knows it or not; and they have whereon to lean [evidence enough]; and the judgment is a judgment of truth; and everything is prepared for the Banquet" (Aboth iii. 25, in Strack's ed., iii. 16). Compare the cry of the angel in the book of Revelation: "Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. xix. 9).

R. Akiba was one of the chief movers in the terrible Jewish insurrection in the days of Trajan and Hadrian. That second war of the Jews had no historian like Josephus to record its victories and defeats. The last great battle was fought on the great plain on which the city Sepporis stood, at the Castra Vetera of the Romans. That name seems afterwards to have been corrupted into that of Bether.* The awful struggle might well be described in the words of Rev. xiv. 20, "The blood came forth even unto the horses' bridles." The losses of the Romans were too awful to permit of their making any boast of the victory which they ultimately achieved, but according to the lowest calculation, in that fearful war more than five hundred

See Bether, die fragliche Stadt im Hadrianischjudischen Kriege: ein 1700-jähriges Missverständniss. Von Dr. F. Lebrecht. Berlin: Adolf Cohn, 1877.

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